


In a Perfect World

by melpos



Series: How They Met [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-25 01:32:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2603651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melpos/pseuds/melpos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>Maybe in a perfect world,</em> Eren thought, <em>would he see me looking at him and come to sit down and talk. Maybe he would invite me to go to a park with him, and bring bread to feed the birds and bring coffee and tea for us. Maybe in a perfect world.</em></p>
<p>--</p>
<p>Eren first sees Levi in a coffeeshop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In a Perfect World

Eren wouldn't say he was a bad writer. In fact, he'd say he was a pretty good writer. Specializing in school essays, fanfiction, and the occasional short story, he did have plenty of years practice, but he could always get more. 

Which was what he was doing. He needed inspiration. An idea. Something. Anything. He sat in a corner at the local tea-and-coffee shop, Kyojin, laptop open on the table in front of him, a blank document laughing at his lack of inspiration. He glared at the screen. His people-watching wasn't turning out how he wanted it to. Nothing but the occasional hungover uni-student and a few businesspeople scattered here and there slipped in and out. Nothing he hadn't seen before. 

He sighed and checked the time at the corner of his screen. 9:08AM. Maybe he was doing this too early. Even if that was the case, he would have at least expected _some_ sort of spark of inspiration. None so far in his 10-minute sitting. 

The worst part of his little hobby was that he could write for hours and then have nothing for days. It frustrated him, but it helped when he had papers due for school and he was slamming it all out onto his laptop. He liked that he enjoyed writing. 

He looked up as the bell of the shop signaled yet another boring patron. Another businesswoman typing something out onto her phone as she walked in. She didn't even notice Eren watching her. 

Another 20 minutes. He lost count of the amount of rushing people he saw bounce in and out fluidly. 

When he heard the bell chime yet again, he forced himself to look up, considering just going back to his dorm and sleeping before his one o'clock class. 

He looked up and found something. He found a short man dressed in a black suit with a taller women with large square glasses and a gray suit of her own following closely behind the man. They looked like generic businesspeople, so generic that Eren nearly sighed. 

That was, until, he made eye-contact with the man and found the most beautiful face he had ever seen. The eyes that met his only for a passing second were a steel gray, and they were piercing. His thin nose and thin lips matched his eyes, and he emitted an aura of intimidation. Eren continued to stare at the man, as he walked up to the cashier to place his order. 

"Small black tea," the man said curtly, voice smooth but firm. Eren watched his suit-cladded backside as he trailed him up and down with his eyes, examining as much as he could before it would all disappear before his eyes. 

The man walked away from the register and the woman took his place, cheerfully greeting the cashier and happily placing her own order. Eren's eyes followed the man as he walked over to the corner to wait for his tea. The man pulled a phone out of his pocket and studied the screen carefully. Eren wondered what he was looking at. Emails? Text messages? Pictures of cute cats? Maybe the man was a cat person. Or maybe he secretly enjoyed looking at the occasional giraffe in a zoo. Eren smiled at his thoughts. How amusing that would be. The man seemed to be very straight-to-the-point with things. With the way he ordered his drink, and looked at his phone, and... _wow_ Eren liked his face. Like, a lot. He was considering going over to the man and talking to him, but then he wondered if he was married and his eyes snapped over to the man's left hand, holding the phone and giving Eren a perfect view of a naked ring finger. 

Then, he thought about the woman that he walked in with. That was probably his girlfriend, he thought dejectedly. 

_Maybe in a perfect world,_ Eren thought, _would he see me looking at him and come to sit down and talk. Maybe he would invite me to go to a park with him, and bring bread to feed the birds and bring coffee and tea for us. Maybe in a perfect world._

And Eren began to type. 

\------

Levi sighed around his tea drink as he and Hanji walked out of the coffeeshop. His lack of sleep this past week came with the sudden onset of work at him that Erwin threw at him, which kept him busy. And not in a good way. 

He hoped the tea he drank would wake him up, and it was working, somewhat. He planned to give Erwin a particularly nasty glare when he entered the office. 

He and Hanji continued to walk down the quiet street, and he felt Hanji's eyes on him. He tilted his head toward her and caught her eyes. They were filled with anticipation. Of what, he didn't know. He decided to shrug it off and check his watch. 9:35. Well, he'd still be on time for their meeting if they kept up this pace. He heard Hanji groan beside him. 

"Levi!" she sighed. "What was that?" 

Levi furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, looking over at her again. "What are you talking about?" 

"The guy in the coffeeshop." 

Levi turned quickly to glance at the coffeeshop they came from, shrinking smaller as they walked further away from it. He looked at her, confused. "What guy?" 

Hanji grew exasperated. "Oh my god, you are so slow for someone so smart." Levi narrowed his eyes at her. "He was totally undressing you with his eyes." 

Levi scoffed. “Yeah, okay. You’ve only said that a million times before.”

Hanji shook her head as she said, “No but, I’m serious this time.” 

“And you were serious the last hundred times.” 

Silence. Levi looked over at her in surprise. Maybe she _wasn’t_ joking around this time. She stared ahead, a thoughtful, contemplative look on her face. Levi grew uneasy. 

“I didn’t even see any guy,” he added after she didn’t say anything. “Only this one guy sitting in the corner on his laptop.” 

“That’s the one!” Hanji remarked suddenly. “Oh man, we have to go back tomorrow. For more coffee or whatever you get. I just need you to look at him. Maybe he’ll be there. _Hopefully_ he'll be there.” 

“And who’s to say that I’ll like him?” Levi grumbled. “Maybe he’s a complete asshole, or maybe he’s a complete _weirdo_ ––I don’t even know which would be worse.” 

“C’mon, Levi. He was a total cutie! I loved his eyes. They were amazing.” Hanji’s eyes twinkled in thought. 

Levi scoffed, amused. “Why not go for him yourself then?” 

Hanji sighed, patting his shoulder. “Oh, honey,” she lamented, and Levi rolled his eyes at the nickname she called him. “Not with the way he was looking at you. Not a chance.” She shook her head. 

Levi nearly groaned, caving in. “Alright, fine. But only because this is the best damn tea I’ve had so far in this god-forsaken city.” 

\------

Eren didn’t expect the man in the black to return. He didn’t expect him to come back, in a suit more slick than before, with the same woman, same beautiful face, the same _everything_. Eren felt overwhelmed. 

The couple came in earlier this time, 10 minutes earlier than before, and Eren thanked everything that was holy that he decided to get his coffee sooner than later, and he thanked the heavens that the man still wore a suit. Eren liked suits. 

He noticed that the man and woman had switched colors, and Eren wondered if that was on purpose. Probably not, he mused. He shrugged inwardly as he typed out a rough draft for his Literature class. The paper wasn’t due for a few weeks, but Eren felt that he could start it, so he did. 

He looked up when he heard the man’s voice again. “Small black tea,” he repeated with the same order as yesterday. The cashier nodded her head as she punched in the order. He paid quickly and went back to the same corner as yesterday, only this time, he glanced at Eren quickly, their eyes meeting, before he reached for his phone and the screen flared up as he looked down at it. Eren’s throat felt dry. The man had looked at him. He had brought his gray eyes to meet Eren’s, and Eren felt giddy, for some reason. 

_Progress,_ Eren thought, determinedly. _Maybe he will come back tomorrow. Maybe he will sit down across from me and tell me how he noticed me. And then we would share some stories about ourselves and learn about each other._ Eren paused in his thoughts. He realized how weird he sounded if someone else were to hear him. He sighed. His life was so boring and mundane, it hurt. It was a routine, and it never changed. There were no sudden moments of changes or twists. 

It was all irrelevant. 

\------

“Alright, so I’ll admit you were right,” Levi grumbled. His tea felt warm in his hands. It was November, and it was cold. 

Hanji laughed outright as they walked along the same street as the day before. She would have clapped if she wasn’t holding her own drink. “Told you,” she sang happily. Levi rolled his eyes. “What’d you think of him?” 

Levi shrugged and looked away. The guy looked younger than him, maybe a university student, and he had the most stunning teal eyes paired with a messy mop of soft-looking hair. His eyes had to have been his best feature. Levi had never seen a color like it before. 

“I think you should talk to him.” 

Levi let out a dry, breathy laugh. “Maybe if I was ten years younger.” 

Hanji let out a loud bellow of laughter. “That hasn’t stopped you before from going for those--” 

“Shut up, Hanji.” Levi would rather she not mention his rather… _promiscuous_ past. “I can’t, anyways. Too busy with work.”

“Oh don’t pull that with me,” Hanji said. “Erwin and I _both_ know you sit at home watching _Breaking Bad_ when you’re not working.” Levi grumbled in response. 

“By the way,” she began. “I have to go into the office early tomorrow, so I can’t go with you to Kyojin.” She pouted. 

Levi nodded his understanding. Should he talk to the man in the coffeeshop? _Would_ he talk to him? Levi wasn’t one to usually strike up any type of conversation with people, and he wasn’t planning on starting now. But… the kid was cute, he’d give him that. He didn’t think he would ever have to deal with this shit again, hoping to work till he retired, and then dying alone. He was perfectly okay with that. He accepted it. He was just having second thoughts, that was all. He became frustrated with himself, sighing as he entered his office’s building. 

\------

Eren was beginning to believe that the man that came into Kyojin was creating a routine. It was the third day that the man came in, and each time was around the same time in the morning. Only this time, Eren came earlier, and, ironically enough, so did the businessman. 

Eren walked in at 8:30, ordered his coffee, and sat in his usual spot. The man came in around 8:45, only this time, he was alone. Eren wondered where the friendly woman was. 

The man ordered his same, and walked over to the corner, leaning on the counter where drinks were distributed. This time however, he wasn’t on his phone, but staring thoughtfully at Eren. Eren looked away after meeting the man’s eyes. They were so intense and full of emotion, that Eren felt intoxicated and overwhelmed. 

The man’s order was called, and he looked away from Eren to grab his drink. Eren didn’t see him, but he heard him take a breath. He heard the heavy footsteps approach him, as Eren assumed he would pass his table to exit. He froze when he realized that the man had stopped in front of Eren’s table, tea in hand, and staring down at Eren. 

“Uhh…” Eren began nervously, hiding himself behind his laptop. “Can I help you with something?” 

The man sat down in the seat across from Eren and continued to stare at him. He asked, “What’s your name?” 

“Eren,” he responded nervously, and the man nodded. 

“Levi,” he replied. 

They sat in silence for a few moments before Eren spoke. 

“Is there something you needed?” 

Levi shrugged. “I like the way you look.” Eren blushed, and Levi nearly grinned. He still had it, he guessed. 

“Uh, thank you,” Eren stuttered out. “I like the way you look, too.”

Well that caught Levi off-guard. He didn’t expect the kid to respond so directly. 

“I noticed,” Levi said playfully. Eren’s cheeks went redder. 

“Okay,” was all he murmured in reply. 

“So, what do you do on your laptop all day? Stream porn?” Levi wanted to keep talking to the kid. That was different. 

Eren choked on his drink at Levi’s blunt words. He coughed and rasped out, “I write,” as he pounded on his chest. 

Levi tilted his head, a playful smirk gracing his thin lips. “Ah, an aspiring writer, are we? How exciting.” 

Eren shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe one day, I’ll write a book or something. For now, I’ll just stick to writing papers for school, and maybe a short story here and there.” 

Levi pondered Eren’s words. “Uni student, then?” Levi questioned. Eren nodded. 

“Yep. I’m a junior.” Eren paused and his eyes darted around. He spoke up again. “So, where’s your girlfriend? You didn’t come with her today.” 

Levi nearly guffawed at the idea of Hanji being his girlfriend. Instead, he snorted quietly. “That’s not my girlfriend, thank god. She’s just a coworker of mine. And a friend, I guess.” 

“Oh, okay,” Eren said. “What’s her name?” He was desperate for some form of conversation, striving to keep the older man in his presence for as long as he could. 

“Hanji,” Levi replied. He looked at his watch. It was nearing nine o’clock. He stood up. “I better get going. The sooner I get to work, the sooner I can leave. I’ll see you tomorrow though?” he prompted, and Eren nodded. 

“Yeah, I’ll be here. Bye, Levi.” 

“Bye.” 

Levi walked out of the café feeling warm inside, for some reason. The exchange was short, but he liked it. He wanted to do it again. 

When he walked into the office building, he felt lighter. 

\------

“Armin, he was so different. Like a good kind of different. Like the kind of different I would _do_ in bed if I had the opportunity--”

“ _Okay,_ Eren, thank you. I definitely needed to know that.” 

Eren laughed as he and his best friend sat in the library near their school. They didn’t share a dorm, but they spent time together when they could. It was nearing six o’clock. They still had an hour before Armin would be on his merry way to finish up his homework. He always put aside at least an hour for him and Eren to spend time together, and Eren was grateful for that. He needed his weekly Wednesday-talks with Armin. 

“Just saying,” Eren said with a shrug. "He's very attractive." Armin nodded. 

He hummed thoughtfully. “So you met him at Kyojin?” 

Eren nodded. “Yeah. He said that he’d be coming back tomorrow.” 

“Is he a student?” Armin asked as he scrolled through his phone. 

Eren’s eyes glanced away from his own phone in thought. “I highly doubt it. He’s always wearing a business suit.” 

“Oh, okay,” Armin said. A silence grew as they both did different things on their phones. 

They continued their conversation minutes later, spilling through many different topics, and before they both knew it, it was seven o’clock. Armin stood up regretfully and waved his goodbye to Eren with a smile. Eren waved back. He did schoolwork for a while, before deciding to head back to his dorm room. If he was being honest with himself, he would admit to wanting it to be morning already. 

He worked on the paper he had started before, thoughts lingering on Levi’s gray eyes more often than he would care to admit. 

\------

The next day, Levi walked more cheerfully, if only by an infinitesimal size. He glared less, he frowned less, and he hated life less. 

Hanji, of course, noticed. She noticed the same day he had gone to Kyojin alone, when he walked into the office building, that things had gone more than smoothly. 

She decided to confront him about it when he came in today. She told him she couldn't go to Kyojin again, to see if the same results would pan out. 

They did, much to her happiness, and Levi walked past her to get to his office. She stood up from her seat and followed close behind him, walking into his office with him. 

"So, how'd it go?" she asked as he sat down. 

Levi shrugged, feigning disinterest. "Fine." 

"Did you find out his name?" Hanji questioned again, stepping further into the office. 

"Eren," he replied curtly. 

"Age?" 

"Twenty." 

"Occupation?"

"University student." 

"Is he single?" 

"Probably." 

Hanji paused in her barrage of questions. Then she said cautiously, "So... you like him." 

Levi pursed his lips, not meeting Hanji's eyes. "Too soon to tell," he mumbled. 

Hanji nodded. "I see." She let out a long sigh. "Well, I better get back to work. See you later!" She waved her goodbye and he nodded back. 

Levi slumped into his seat. He thought about Eren, whom he had talked to that morning. It was, once again, only a short talk, mostly because Levi needed to get to work. He wished he had more time. He contemplated going in earlier to Kyojin and worried that Eren wouldn't be there. 

What had happened to his boring life? 

\------

Eren sat at his laptop again. It was Friday, which meant that he wouldn't be coming to Kyojin the next day. Did he need to tell Levi? Were they friends? Acquaintances? Strangers, still? 

He ruffled at his hair, slightly mussing it up. He had showered in the morning instead of his general night shower, put on his best-smelling cologne, and put on his favorite university shirt along with a dark pair of jeans. Much different from his usual stained sweats and used shirt. 

Within this week alone, he wrote a lot. He wrote some papers for school, and even started a short story, panning out to be seven thousand words already. How did he do it? He didn't know, but he was glad he could get so much done. 

The bell chimed, and Eren looked up to see Levi again, only this time, he was also wearing a pair of jeans, along with a nice blue button-down shirt with rolled-up sleeves. Eren tilted his head in confusion at the change. Their eyes met, and Levi let a small smile reach his lips. Eren grinned back widely. 

When Levi received his tea, he sat down with Eren, and the younger of the two spoke.

"I noticed you have a sudden change in wardrobe." 

Levi looked down at himself. "Oh, yeah. It's Casual Friday at work." 

Eren nodded and hummed. "I like your shirt." 

"Thanks," Levi said. "Yours is nice too." Then, Levi sniffed the air. He sniffed closer to Eren and smirked. Eren coiled away from him when he went closer. 

"Cologne, huh?" 

"Shut up!" 

"Trying to impress me, are we kid?" 

Eren scoffed. "Who said it was for you?" he teased with a toothy grin. 

Levi's head lowered. The cashier behind the counter was doing something in the back of the shop. It was only the two of them. He leaned forward, a sultry gaze in his eyes, and Eren followed suit. "I would hope it's for me," he whispered, voice rough, and Eren swallowed. 

"O-Oh," he stuttered, looking dazed. 

Levi leaned back into his seat and stretched. Eren watched as he did. 

"Eren," Levi started, and Eren snapped his eyes toward Levi's. "What do you do on weekends?" 

Eren shrugged. "Nothing, really." 

"Are you busy tomorrow?" 

Eren paused in his movements. Did he just ask that? Was his life going to become more interesting? Was Levi going to ask him out on a date? He shook his head quietly. 

"Let's go somewhere," Levi voiced firmly. 

Eren smiled and grew more nervous. "Sure. Any ideas as to where?" 

"Dinner?" Levi suggested. Eren shrugged. 

"I'm fine with that." 

Levi nodded, absentmindedly rubbing his fingers against the side of his cup. He pushed his lips into a thoughtful pout and let out a small sigh. It was so quiet. He could hear Eren's foot shake underneath the table. He nearly smirked at the idea of how nervous he made Eren. It had been a while since he dated someone, but he was hoping he could get somewhere with Eren. 

"How old are you?" Eren suddenly asked. Levi had asked him that days ago, but Eren never reciprocated the question. 

Levi said, "Thirty-one." 

Eren nodded. He checked the time. 9:20. A small yawn escaped him as he began to type on his laptop. Levi watched him. He watched his teal eyes dart around the laptop screen, and noticed how his lips moved with the words he typed. He realized that watching Eren in his natural form, doing something he did everyday—he realized that it was beautiful. Eren was beyond stunning, and Levi couldn't pinpoint why—he had only known him for a few days, after all—but did he really need to know why? He figured he didn't. 

After losing track of time, Levi waved his goodbyes and bid Eren a curt farewell. 

He stepped out of the coffee shop, but turned when he heard loud footsteps follow behind him. "Wait," Eren mumbled. "I need your phone number." 

"Oh," Levi said dumbly. He didn't think about the fact that he wouldn't see Eren till their dinner together, which wasn't yet planned. "Yeah. Right." Levi pulled out his cell phone and he and Eren swapped phones to put in the information. 

When they both got their phones back, they laughed at the names they picked for their contacts. "Sexy Asshole" and "Your Favorite College Student", respectfully. 

"How original," Eren mused playfully. "I already have a few of those in here." Levi scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

"Don't get too cocky, kid."

"Cocky is my _specialty_." 

"Really, now?" 

"Gosh, Levi. I thought you would know that by now." 

A snort. "Very funny. You've come across as pretty shy these past few days." 

Eren's eyes flared challengingly. "Then I guess you just don't know me well enough. I'll teach you a few things this weekend." 

Eren winked, turned, then walked back into the coffeeshop. Levi smirked as he watched Eren return to his seat. He liked that side of Eren. He could get used to it. 

_In a perfect world,_ Levi thought, _I'll know him like the back of my hand soon enough._

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at m-elpos.tumblr.com 
> 
> i hope you enjoyed!


End file.
